Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1887-08-18

Many years ago. long before the days
Of railroads, there stood. in the wild
mountain regions of Western Pennsyl-
yania, large rambling. tumble. down
building, which was used, at the time
Of which Ispeak, as an inn. 1t had Wis.
sionary immigrant from the Old World.
IN imitation of his ancestral home. Why
such all out-of-the-way spot had been
selected for home no one ever pretend.
ed to guess. But certain it was that
the owner had expended all of his avail.
able means in its erection, and had toll.
ed and starved, and finally died of a
broken heart. his utter want Of practi-
cal training totally uniting hillsides
which he had selected for home. His
wife soon followed him to the grave,
and his children scattered, no one knew
where. And thus it was that the once
pretentious mansion went to decay for
want Of tenant, vnd would have rotted
to the ground had not the spirit of i'm
provment and enterprise finally invad-
ed the region Of hidden treasures Of
the earth.
When visited the spot, a small vii
lage had sprung up around the old
house. and that had been taken posse
sion Of, and the few rooms not utterly
ruined by decay had been converted III.
to a socalled tavern. The landlord
might have starved, however. If he had
depended on native custom, for the old
house, during those years Of solitude,
had gained an unsavory reputation. and
in the absence Of other tenants. many.
tongued rumor had peopled 1t with
ghosts.
Its reputation had reached me before
| visited the place, but as had alwaya
felt an inexpressible longing to sleep in
haunted room and make the personal
acquaintance of some of the dissatisfied
denizens of the other shore l was not
sorry to learn that the haunted inn was
the only place in the town where l
could find resting place.
was somewhat taken aback, howev-
er. when the landlord informed me in
broken English and poor whiskey, that
every bed and every room in the house
was full. I could not but admit the
eternal fitness, inasmuch as he was full,
too but begged him to set his few re.
naming wits to work to see if he could
not find peg for me to hang my tired
bones upon. After grave consultation
with the landlord. it was concluded
that they could make me shake down,
if did not mind sharing my room with
another gentleman who had already re-
tired. There was nothing for me to do
but TO except the situation, and I did 80
in good faith.
By the time the shake down was com.
pleted had finished my supper and an.
nounced my desire to retire immediate.
ly. The landlord was by this time too
far gone to render any assistance, and
as the lanlladv weighed not less than
three hundred pounds, 1 excused her
from attendance and acted as my own
usher. She furnished me with the re-
mains of a tallow dip, and giving me
few general directions concerning the
location of the room, babe me good
night.
/ fortunately stumbled into the place
intended for me. for hastY glance re-
yealed the shakc-down. I had just
time to bolt the door when the light
went out. and it remained for the moon
which shone brightly into the window,
to light me to bed, and to reveal the To-
cality of the other bed, on which the
stranger slept.
I am not naturally nervous, but
confess that I would much rather have
known who my roommate was and the
thought of what he might be. kept me
awake for some time. To add to my
nervousness the wind had risen, and it
whistled through the cracks and around
the gables of the old mansion with
weird and mournful cadence, which was
anything but soothing to my tired and
already over-wrought nerves.
Ash lay there, the aounds momentar.
lily incre ased in hidousness thought of
all the stories I had heard of the cursed
old rookery. and as did so the sounds
became more and more like the shrieks
OF the damned, or the wall of a lost
soul. finally became so nervous that
I resolved to arise and go below.
But now, as l rose in my bed for this
purpose, found myself subjected to a
new source Of annoyance. The mock